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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

thercman
Full Member
Registered: 12/15/12
Posts: 147
Loc: Spokane WA, United States

Now that the newest products have been displayed, are you inspired to buy something new? Maybe you want to replace an aging piece of gear with something announced. If so, what was it? Personally I have my eye on the Kawai VPC1...

_________________________
"I'm still an idiot and I'm still in love" - Blue Sofa - The Plugz 1981 (Tito Larriva) Disclosure : I am professionally associated with Arturia but my sentiments are my own only.

_________________________
"I'm still an idiot and I'm still in love" - Blue Sofa - The Plugz 1981 (Tito Larriva) Disclosure : I am professionally associated with Arturia but my sentiments are my own only.

Would love to get one. One of my colleagues here has a Vintage Vibe...as it happens he's also the VPC1 project leader.

Jamesx

Very cool. The Vintage Vibe has been an absolute joy to own. I expect the Vibanet will provide a funkin good time. I'm expecting the VPC to be a big step up form the action of the A88. With the Jupiter as a controlled device, I really don't need any other controllers on the VPC.

Hoped for a new kurzweil , but nothing happened. From the Apple front no news either, no Logic X , new Mainstage or anything similar. But we knew they abandoned the pro AV market long ago, so no surprise...

Perhaps next year when tablets had their next power boost well see a lot more professional music software and synths for ios and android. Then you can skip the laptop and gig with your tablet entirely. Nice touch interface , small footprint.

Other than that, there's something appealing about the Roland VR-09, but I don't know if it quite really fills a need for me any better than things I already have, or if it is (more likely) only a different-but-equal tradeoff. What I really would have hoped for is a drawbar organ board from someone with 73+ keys that went down at least to the low E and at least a 2-way split function with sounds that go out separate outputs, and preferably aftertouch. Also some MIDI controller functionality, at least enough so that, when I want the best organ sound, I could trigger VB3 (i.e. the ability to use its drawbars to send CC, and the ability for its presets to send MIDI Program Change). And ideally pitch and mod wheels. The closest thing to that looks to be the new 88-key Hammond SK1, but I can't justify its supposed $3k price tag, especially since it still lacks some of those features. If their 73 was C-to-C instead of F-to-F, that would have tempted me.

I think I'm with anotherscott on this one. If the PX-5s has APs and EPs that are really musical, and a decent action, it would mean I don't have to spend $3k on a Nord, and would (once again) have a very lightweight gigging board that is physically compact. The VR-09 is interesting as a lightweight second-tier board that should have better organs than the XW-P1 (meaning I don't have to use a PC with VB3), but I haven't really heard a demo that shows off the basic sounds rather than all the frills.

The VPC looks great, but I still don't like using piano VSTs in outboard gear, with all the tinkering that has to be done.

Studiologic announced something (sort of) that could be interesting - the Numa Concert, with wooden keys and 1GB nine-layer piano samples that weighs 45lbs.

Wish I could justify a Vintage Vibe product.

_________________________"you don't need to have been a rabbit in order to become a veterinarian"

The VR-09 is interesting as a lightweight second-tier board that should have better organs than the XW-P1 (meaning I don't have to use a PC with VB3), but I haven't really heard a demo that shows off the basic sounds rather than all the frills.

Will this pretty much be your road gear aside from some sort of amplification?

I do have an iPad. I'm not sure what I'll do with the Xkey yet, I don't know whether I'll gig with it. But it just looks too cool not to have. ;-)

As for my gig rig, I have a bunch of stuff and switch things around, always looking for the closest-to-perfect setup (which also sometimes varies with the nature of the particular gig). I expect that the PX5S will be my go-to weighted 88. I'm not sure what my top board will usually be (and that may also vary with whether or not I bring a rack on some gigs). Every board is a compromise.

Companies are still mostly stuck in the 90's if technology is concerned.

Also often quantity over quality.

If the pX-5S (a pretty decent instrument) is the biggest sensation of the NAMM then the whole sector is in a pretty sorry state indeed.

Yeah, this means that companies like Casio (for example) only care about raking in f*****g greenbacks into their big deep pockets, as it's all about sales. Looks like profit surpasses quality every time.

Definitely gotta have the PX-5s. It's really a rather unique combination of features - especially for this price range.

Casio didn't play it safe, and just do something like a cheap knock-off of a Nord or simply update the PX-3. I think they went out on a limb on this one, and from the sound of the demos ended up knocking the ball out of the park.

Companies are still mostly stuck in the 90's if technology is concerned.

Also often quantity over quality.

If the pX-5S (a pretty decent instrument) is the biggest sensation of the NAMM then the whole sector is in a pretty sorry state indeed.

Yeah, this means that companies like Casio (for example) only care about raking in f*****g greenbacks into their big deep pockets, as it's all about sales. Looks like profit surpasses quality every time.